The Routledge Handbook on Financial Social Work

The social determinants of health (and education) are now well understood—much less clear are the array of clinical, organizational and policy interventions that can improve financial well-being. This Routledge Handbook of Financial Social Work: Direct Practice for Vulnerable Populations is the first of its kind and crisply presents a powerful set of ways that social workers and allies can help individuals, families, and communities turn the corner to gain traction up the treacherously sloped path away from financial distress. The chapters are grounded in solid science and deep practice. This volume should have a place in the syllabi of many courses and trainings and on the desk of the many who could better assist their clients if their own expertise about financial social work was greater.

Richard P. Barth, PhD, MSW, Dean of the University of Maryland School of Social Work and Chair of the Grand Challenges for Social Work.

The CSWE Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) were established with the dual intent of creating continuity among our social work education programs and providing flexibility so that programs can respond to our ever-changing environmental landscape and contexts. While there is substantial history of financial social work, this Routledge Handbook of Financial Social Work: Direct Practice for Vulnerable Populations makes a strong case for why this is essential knowledge for contemporary social work today and will be a fabulous resource for programs seeking to strengthen the toolkit for the next generation of social workers to become champions for economic justice.

Darla Spence Coffey, PhD, MSW, President and Chief Executive Officer, Council on Social Work Education.

The Routledge Handbook on Financial Social Work: Direct Practice with Vulnerable Populations is a substantive deep dive into the social service world’s multiple "SuperVitamin Effect" opportunities that we and our municipal government partners see as key to large-scale and sustainable financial empowerment. Thank you to Callahan, Frey, and Imboden for this thorough – and practical – new resource!

Jonathan Mintz, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund.

Social workers fully understand the importance of finances on family well-being, but are often limited by a lack of training and encouragement to address clients’ financial struggles. This timely book by experts in financial social work is a valuable resource for those seeking to integrate financial assessments and effective interventions into a wide range of practice settings. Readers will discover strategies and tools to enable diverse groups of people – through direct intervention, program and policy innovations and advocacy, and research – to achieve financial stability and security.

Margaret Sherraden, PhD, Research Professor, Washington University in St Louis.

Former Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) gave strong support for Financial Social Work skills and practice as a critical skill for social work students and practitioners in the field. During her address at the Daniel Thursz Social Justice Lecture (University of Maryland School of Social Work, Spring 2019), she said, "First of all, I think that the issue of income and social disparities are the challenge of our time, and we must deal with the disparity situation aggressively and forcibly. For social work, though, I’ve been seeing all the wonderful and diverse majors that you have now that I didn’t have when I was here, like financial social work. I think that’s terrific!"